Traditionally, arts organizations have followed the conventional wisdom that income, education and other demographic factors are the most important determinants of people's decisions to participate in the arts. The new RAND study, A New Framework for Building Participation in the Arts, explores how the decision to participate or not is based on a range of factors and choices that can be strongly influenced by the practices of the arts groups. Using information from this report will allow all kinds of arts organizations with a framework for understanding and building arts participation.
According to M. Christine DeVita, president of the Wallace Funds, "After more than a decade of inspiring work with hundreds of arts organizations that have grappled successfully with the challenge of building participation, the Wallace Funds are delighted that this landmark study by RAND provides a sound analytic basis to help every organization around the country take practical steps to achieve their own participation goals for themselves and their communities."
A New Framework for Building Participation in the Arts based its findings on field research, interviews and surveys with more than 100 organizations from around the country contributing information. "Very little research on arts participation has been written for practitioners up until now," said Kevin McCarthy, senior social scientist at RAND and principal author of the study. "Most of the practical literature has been in the form of case studies that talk about techniques, but provide no larger framework for understanding what's needed to influence participation and why something works or doesn't work in a specific situation. That's what we've tried to address."
The centerpiece of the RAND study is a behavioral model of arts participation that can help guide arts institutions in audience-building efforts. The model identifies distinct stages that an individual goes through in making participation decisions, along with the complex factors affecting each stage. For example, in the Background Stage the study found that willingness to participate was influenced by social and demographic factors, personality characteristics, prior arts experience and group affiliations. Then the individual may move through three additional stages including the 'Perceptual', the 'Practical' and finally 'Experience'.
The decision to participate begins with an individual's initial inclination to "try out" the arts, which is based on his or her perceptions of the particular art form. Perceptions are shaped by peer groups, relatives or friends, and perceptual barriers must be overcome before the individual takes the next step. Then people decide whether to attend a specific concert or visit a specific exhibition based on such practical factors as the event's program, the cost, and transportation. And finally, people's actual experience at the event, including their reactions to the art as well as to how they were treated by the arts organization, influences their future participation decisions.
By recognizing that a person's participation in the arts is actually the product of a series of decisions, arts groups can effectively target new participants and can be more effective in creating business and program strategies to encourage participation.
A New Framework for Building Participation in the Arts can be downloaded free of charge from RAND's Web site.
The Wallace Funds also launched a new Web site for arts organizations that provides insights into ways that the organizations can increase participation. The new site provides a hands-on exchange of new practices in the arts, original research, and a means to connect diverse people to the arts. It is designed to be a virtual community for arts and cultural practitioners, along with their funders, who wish to share or gain better insights into successful audience-centered business practices. Visitors to the Web site will find success stories, research and resources, a discussion board, press releases and instant surveys.
The Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds seeks to create opportunities for people to enrich themselves through better schools, enhanced community activities, and participation in the arts. For more information about the Fund, visit their Web site.
